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Olympia, WA 98504-0437
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News
Governor signs Sen. Kline’s “driving while poor” bill 3/26/2012
The crime of Driving While License Suspended in the 3rd Degree is the lowest level of driving with a suspended license. While the charge is criminal in nature, it can arise simply because a person is unable to pay the fine on a non-safety civil traffic ticket but still needs to drive to get to work.
Special Session, the current budget terrain, and deciphering the Republican’s claims about their budget proposal 3/8/2012
Today is the last day of our regular 60-day legislative session. The length of our regular legislative session is constitutionally mandated, so we have no choice but to end at the close of the 60th day. We've been involved in intensive negotiations regarding the supplemental operating budget for the current two-year biennium which ends on June 30, 2013. It became apparent a few days ago that we are not going to be able to come to an agreement.
Sen. Kline: Republican budget will hurt the most vulnerable 3/5/2012
Food Aid in Danger 3/5/2012
The original intent of this blog was to tell you that food aid for low-income, immigrant families in our state was in danger.
Now, in light of Friday night's takeover of the Senate by Republicans and three Democrat defectors, the State Food Assistance Program has been eliminated entirely in the Republican budget.
A bad day for the democratic process 3/3/2012
As I sit here in the Senate Chamber, at 10 pm, long after we should have gone home for the evening, I am listening to my Republican colleagues defend the brutal war they are waging against the poor, the old, and the very young in our state.
Until this afternoon, for the previous 53 days of this 60-day legislative session, Democratic leaders of the Senate had worked with their Republican counterparts to create a budget that made the needed cuts, but that mitigated them with revenues from sources other than taxes. (The polling that our Democratic allies have done over the past months have made it abundantly clear that the public, measured statewide, still isn't ready to vote Yes on a referendum creating any combination of taxes.)
The Senate Budget Proposal: Not as bad as it could be 3/1/2012
With only a week left in the 2012 regular legislative session, we are busily making final decisions on policy bills and hammering out our final supplemental operating and capital budgets for the current two-year budget cycle.
The Tax Man Cometh 2/29/2012
With just six weeks left until the tax deadline, I wanted to pass on some information sent to me by a couple of local community organizations and our friends at the Infernal, er, Internal Revenue Service.
First, the social service nonprofits want to remind folks about the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a federal income tax credit for low to moderate income working individuals and families. A fair amount of people who are eligible for the EITC don’t take advantage of it, and are not receiving the funds they deserve under the law. Folks can find out if they’re eligible here.
Sen. Kline talks about his decision to stop gun legislation 2/24/2012
Sen. Kline talks about reforming "driving while poor" penalties 2/17/2012
Marriage Equality and Our State Budget: The Struggles Continue, But Let’s Celebrate the Good News! 2/17/2012
Today is the 40th day of our 60-day legislative session. Tuesday was the cut-off for passing bills out of their houses of origin, with the exception of fiscal bills necessary to implement the budget. Bills that passed the Senate now go to the House, and bills that passed the House now go to the Senate. Right now my colleagues and I are busy ushering our bills through the respective policy committees. Senate committees like Judiciary Committee, which I chair, are all considering bills passed by the House of Representatives.
